There is no such thing as privacy - privacy as a concept is an anachronism, an illusion....based on the way we now live in cyberspace as well as the non-virtual world coupled with publicly available tools, techniques and approaches employed by for-profit & not-for-profit organizations and our own behaviours i.e. social media. (What can we actually withhold?)

Privacy exists & is what you withhold – whether or not it is breached or invaded or disseminated (a philosophical ‘good’?)...what you withhold remains ‘private’ to you. …..

(And security is also an illusion).

Privacy is in one’s mind

At least until cognitive chips become available J.

Privacy is protected by law: the Privacy Act, HIPPA, FOI legislation....& available to those living in countries that guarantee this freedom.

We are each responsible for maintaining our own privacy, it’s ‘buyer beware’ in the wild west of the Internet.

There is only one definition of privacy

Privacy can be perceived differently. It is sometimes confused with anonymity and invisibility, confidentiality, secrecy (or has elements of same)

We can choose to trade away our privacy in exchange for access –as a normal part of business/life - the decision is ours. While we have choice – we have freedom (and presumably privacy?)

The decision to trade away privacy in exchange for a ‘good’ (a job, getting through an airport and on a plane, access a website) is often not a choice – there is underlying pressure to comply if not outright coercion (few viable options/alternatives).

Once we give away our data we should expect to have no control over its use (locus of control has shifted)

What about third party use - where authorization was not explicitly given & a particular use was not anticipated? No recourse to reassert control?

Privacy is simple to attain by staying off the Internet or changing a platform, securing a system or modifying one’s browser habits

Privacy is almost impossible to attain and ‘reasonable security’ is the best we can hope for.

Every online transaction is captured, leaving a trail for anyone to follow etc…

Privacy is about ‘personal space’

Privacy has emotional components – evokes feelings.

We give up certain freedoms, including privacy, for the greater good i.e. security.

Privacy must be defended.....through individual behaviour as well as through law. Protocols can protect systems but even secure systems can be hacked (errors of omission & commission can impact privacy as well as actual crimes).

Privacy is not a ‘state of being’

Privacy is a decision

At least two participants in this on-line discussion (initiated in late August and completed September 6th, 2011 - total of 28 responses) agreed that: Vulnerability is something our profession (IT, IT security) can address with great intelligence and creativity.

Also see additional analysis re privacy
: Privacy is Dead – Get Over IT with Steve Rambam

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A sincere thanks to all those in the toolbox.com community who participated in the discussion so far. There is much yet to be explored on this topic as cyberspace, business and society continue an impressively rapid evolution.

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Most recently, I have been pondering a quote from Jeremy Rifkin’s The Empathic Civilization which reads: “Where
privacy was the coveted value of a bourgeois generation which defined freedom in terms of autonomy and exclusivity,
access is the most sought after value of the Millennial Generation, which defines freedom in terms of the depth and scope of one’s relationships.”